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Some nice things people have said about A Good Ground!!! Pitchfork:
[W]hile the OC mine the barren lands of Hoboken for archaeological evidence of their ancient heroes, the band have some new millennial fight in them... [They] are unstoppable, burning up imaginary stages, dominating 80s underground rock retrospectives, and owning the charts 23 years ago...there's something refreshing about a band as stubborn as Oxford Collapse: sure to be hated on for a handful of abrasive, outmoded stylistic choices, they remain adamant and unswerving. That devotion shines through on this mostly wonderful record. (7.8, Sam Ubl)
Spin Magazine:
Three Brooklyn boys with perpetual nervousness launch the '80s Amerindie revival: Michael Pace jams econo-lines onto his Gibson Marauder, Dan Fetherston sprays high-hats and cymbals over a mostly 4/4 gallop, and Adam Rizer proves once and for all that repeated listening to R.E.M.'s Reckoning is a good way to learn how to play bass. (B)
Coke Machine Glow:
[B]ands like Oxford Collapse dare to make the cool kids care again. Because they know it’s not really about whether you’re dancing or not. Really, who the hell listens to music to dance to it? And yes, the pricey coiffes will always be there at the shows, front and center, being all self-conscious and detached; but the Oxford Collapse is preaching to the kids on the edges of the crowd, and y’all need to listen up.
Slate:
The standout track [is] "Last American Virgin”…This fantastic bit of ramshackle pop evokes a perfect summer setting (the liminal space of the garage) to discuss a perfect summer subject (virginity). Known for their raucous live shows, the trio's second album, A Good Ground, whittles their perpetually amateur-sounding approach down to a fierce chug. (Hua Hsu)
Chord Magazine:
Oxford Collapse are keenly aware of what they are doing, spinning a peppy yarn that sticks with repeated listens. A Good Ground is one of those albums that will have listeners obsessively flipping from song to song, looking for the connecting clues to unlock some secret puzzle. Funny thing is, as far as I can tell, there's no secret to unlock. Except for that unanswered bit about how a band so young in their years can be so damn clever.
Junk Media:
It creates a palpable anxiety, the kind of teenage angst that we all felt in the pit of our stomachs when we were trying to screw up the courage to ask someone to the dance. Personally I don't ever want to relive those awkward days, but it sounds pretty great coming out of the speakers.
Beat the Indie Drum:
Crooked but never chaotic. Hummable and terribly melodic but never sugar-coated. Packing a punch that stuns but never floors. Jittery but never kitschy. Raw but matured. Oxford Collapse have properly assembled all the necessary ingredients for a satisfying indie rock cocktail. Recommended.
Crutch Music:
A Good Ground is so charged, so filled with guitar punk energy, jagged melodies, quirky vocals and yes, even dance rhythms, it makes you want to stop the car, close your eyes and imagine yourself transported back to a time when Sonic Youth was still playing small clubs and Mission of Burma weren’t middle aged men with receding hairlines and pot bellies.
Detroit Metro Times:
Kinda like a Tom Verlaine demo with primitive production values, this one has a haunting heartfelt passion that's hard to beat.
New York Press:
[T]he band improves on the sound innovated by bands like The Feelies and Television, filling the current void for breakneck rock without overblown egos or eardrums.
Treblezine:
The Oxford Collapse burst right through my expectations and blew them to bits. Holy crap, these guys can tear shit up… Just when it seemed like all the good punk rockers were disappearing, including many of the ones that just showed up, The Oxford Collapse have provided some relief in the form of a 12 truly awesome tracks. There's nothing gimmicky here, nothing kitschy or trendy. This is rock `n' roll, played by three New York gentlemen with the good graces to just let us rock.
Dallas Observer:
At their heart, the Oxford Collapse stem from a classic DIY underground more concerned with spilling their souls than building hipster cred. Tracks like "Prop Cars" bleed early Superchunk, with frontman Michael Pace's ragged mantras wedged between angular-yet-catchy chord clusters, and "The Last American Virgin" sounds like a lost relic from a forgotten, Midwestern band with more stars in their eyes than bills in their pockets. The frenetic tripwire energy and stop-start antics of Mission of Burma and Wire are present, but everything's delivered with the loose jangle of Cap'n Jazz and Murmur-era R.E.M. With its combination of boyish élan and jagged restlessness, A Good Ground practically jumps off the pages of author Michael Azerrad's indispensable account of the '80s American indie underground, Our Band Could Be Your Life.
Zero Magazine:
Overlapping rhythms, sudden time shifts, and the tinge of unpredictability are present but diluted with cleaner, more recognizable song structures...refreshingly chaotic pop music in a tired world of scene schemers and screamers.
Neumo:
It makes you feel. It makes you believe. And makes you forget where it came from, makes you happy that someone was able to carry the torch without snuffing it out. And that they did. Even if they are [insert long drawn-out sigh here] from Brooklyn. Philadelphia Weekly:
The new A Good Ground finds Oxford Collapse rattling awake anyone who didn't catch last year's Some Wilderness. Jagged and veering, yet methodically so, the songs recall a strain of indie rock that thrived two decades ago, when Yo La Tengo and Pavement were still taking notes from the Feelies and the Clean. The surplus of entrancing verses and rewarding choruses is rarely at odds with such esoteric leanings, and Mike Pace's well-documented yelp morphs into something mellower and more hummable as the band dodges the dead-end that's dance-punk and inches ever toward the sublime.
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